Remember Jack Cottle, the young man who caused a red flag in the Brands Hatch Fun Cup race by driving a VW Polo
on to a live race track
? You may (or may not) be pleased to learn that he was today sentenced to eight months in prison for causing a public nuisance.
While his defence might have been disappointed by the custodial sentence, it was Judge Martin Joy who had the final word on Cottle's prank, which was inevitably widely seen and shared online.
"It's quite clear your actions were premeditated. It was deliberate, it was inexcusable," Judge Joy is quoted as saying in a statement on circuit owner MotorSport Vision's website. "Your deliberate behaviour endangered not only your own life it but those of your passengers, the competitors, the emergency services, the marshals, stewards and anyone else who was nearby. The sentence must reflect the need to deter others who might be tempted to act as you did."
MSV's boss, Jonathan Palmer, said, "I am really pleased that Kent Police and the Court have quite rightly taken such a tough stance on this deliberately reckless act, which endangered the lives of the drivers racing on circuit and the volunteer track marshals, not to mention Jack Cottle and his passengers."
Predictably PHers are already talking about this (38 pages and counting!) - join the conversation here.